I'm a practicing Wiccan and that makes me a Witch... yes, male Wiccans are witches too!

Wiccans though, are pretty far from the typical Halloween concept of what a Witch is although all the Witches I know seem to revel in the title.

I kind of disagree with you, Hauntmaster, on ghosts. I think there are ghosts which are the spirits of people. But I also believe there are spiritual entities or beings that are completely different from people.

My experiences of the presence of people I loved who have died are hard to explain and often the words I write about it either cheapens the experience or simply fails to capture the essence. So I hesitate to write about it, but I have no doubt that some of the people I have loved who have passed on have been present at certain times in my life. I can feel their presence and thier love.

OTOH, I have had a couple of occasions where I felt some kind of spiritual presence that was completely alien. Again, the English language is inadequate to convey what I felt other than fear.

And then the scientist in me tells me all of the above has a simple biochemical explanation in my brain...

Well, let's see... dogs, for instance. They live on earth, but are not human, they are their own species. That's what I think ghosts are, though smarter than dogs, obviously, I feel that they aren't souls of dead humans, but their own beings.

Does that make sense? Well, how would I explain the fact some people see ghosts as say a dead family member or a historical figure or something like that? Do I maybe project what they want them to be when do happen to catch a gimpse? Perhaps. Obviously, ghosts haven't been able to be studied in detail, as nobody has really been able to catch one. Transformation? Visual illusions? Who knows?

I guess it's possible that "ghosts" are all in one's mind. The mind is, after all, a powerful thing.

Honestly, though, I like ghosts very much, I don't think souls stay on Earth. I believe they go to Heaven or... you know, the other place. Well, anyway, I believe I have a good ghost story that I've found about more than 15 years ago or so, then I will post the information here.

hauntmaster wrote:Well, let's see... dogs, for instance. They live on earth, but are not human, they are their own species. That's what I think ghosts are, though smarter than dogs, obviously, I feel that they aren't souls of dead humans, but their own beings.

That is a really interesting take on it. I had never thought of ghosts that way before.

While friends and loved ones mourn your silly grave, I have other uses for you, darling. ~ I love the Dead, Alice Cooper

If you are Wiccan yourself, then I do believe that. Mostly people do practice in witchcraft, and also, there are many gothics out there believe themselves as witches, warlocks, vampirisms, etc...

I got a friend of mine whose believe in vampires... No, he doesn't bite and kill people to drink blood... Of course, he does drinks the blood from one others, for instance, some people my friend knows, they will use the needle to sting their fingers to allow the blood flows out to feed him. I know that's disgusting! Also, he's not afraid of daylight or fire because he always has to wear his own sunglasses on. Of course, he hates lights and fire, any type of bright things that bother his eyes! Well, he loves to sleep all day, party all night, it's fun to be a vampire... That's what he saying... He believes in Vlad Dracul and his own son just like his father, Vlad Dracula. I will find out more information about Vlad Dracula, then I will post it here.

well since we are all talking about ghosts...etc.....When i was 9 yrs old my brother who was 5 was killed by a car that a teenager was driving.It was such a dark time for myself and my family....but shortly after his passing my siblings and i were playing hide and seek,I really can't explain it well enough,but i'll try..........it was my turn to find everyone and what did i see? I seen a shadow coming down the hallway towards me.....and it dis-appeared....of course i went to go chase it thinking it was one of my other siblings and to my surprise turns out they were in a totally different part of the house, so as the evening went on , now it was time for bed,we all brushed our teeth,washed up,put on our p.j's and went to bed.All of a sudden my aunt(who was babysitting us) started yelling"i thought i told all of you to go to bed,who's downstairs?" We all yelled at her that we were infact in bed and that none of us were up, so she asked for me to go with her to the basement to check it out...........my deceased brothers little sqeaky trycicle was right at the bottom of the steps!!! i'm thinking how the heck did it get there? mom put it away after my brother died,honestly, my mom packed up all his belongings and asked us to never bother his toys.As far as i know as adults we still talk about that day, we are all certain and truthful that we never touched his stuff!! but as we sat there discussing that day we all agreed that our little brother came back to play with us one more time,what do you think? anyone have a similiar past?

Wow Halloweengirl, what a story, I am so sorry for you loss, I know you said this happened with you were younger but still it is a loss. That is amazing with the tricycle. I can't imagine any other reason how or why it would be there so it had to of been your brother. Are you or your family still in the same house? Does he visit any more? If this is too personal I apologize. He has probably grown up with you all this time and is happy to still be involved even it is in a different way.

I believe in the existence of Ghosts, Vampires and Witches, although like you, Hauntmaster, not in the stereotypes.

We'll start of with Witches because that's an easy one - I'm a Pagan and have been for 9 years, my rituals and celebration of the sabbats deems me a witch and I am proud of the title because really, in that sense, it doesn't mean I have green skin and a big, warty nose. Although I do have a broomstick, or to use its magickal term, Besom, I can't fly on it And I do have a cat, but he is ginger, not black

Now onto Vampires - I know for a fact that there are people who drink blood, haemovores is the technical term, I think.. And there are those who engage in bloodletting and bloodplay. They are technically vampires, but they aren't afraid of garlic and crucifixes and they don't go up in smoke when the sun comes up etc. There is also the theory of Psyvamps or Psychic Vampires - where people feed off of other people's energy. I do believe in this but I believe that often it is subconscious.. I think there's a little more to the drained feeling we suddenly get when we are surrounded by a lot of people in a public place or when we are round a certain individual.. who seems to always be energetic ..

My belief in Ghosts is somewhat more scientific. Although I have had first-hand experience of what I believe to be poltergeist activity (when I was 14) I am an advocate of the theory that ghosts are "recordings" on the atmosphere - the intangible presence of time that we can't see or hear of touch. If you see it in terms of electrical waves and impulses (which some theorists do), when a very traumatic event happens, the electrical energy spikes and causes a "scar" on the timeline/atmosphere. This continues to repeat itself infinitely - this explains why there are so many accounts of "Anniversary ghosts" (ghosts which always appear on the same night every year, such as the date of their death etc) and also explains why ghosts often appear unresponsive to our voice or touch. They are not really a physical entity - they are like a shadow of the person repeating an action that they have already done before. This theory also explains why some ghosts appear to be walking along with missing feet or a missing head - often when such cases are analysed, it is revealed that the building has had some structural alteration since the time period - that the ceiling has been lowered or the floor has been lifted, and they are walking on the original floor....

The Romanians actually called vampires "Strigoi" and are seen as ghosts, undead, immaterial things; they are usually a recently buried member of the family, who returns to haunt his relatives and drain their life forces, sometimes in dreams. In order to bring peace to the family and to the undead itself, some "rituals" need to be performed.

This according to a story I found online by Massimo Polidoro. You can check it out by Google or Yahoo.

I like what Haunt Master says ghosts are. He may be right. I am a ghost hunter. I know things about ghosts, vampires[not sterotype], and witches. Here is some info. about wicca witches:It must be understood that Wicca, Paganism and Witchcraft are clearly spiritual belief systems and a way of life. Believers in Witchcraft generally work in covens and each coven develops its own system of worship, rituals and practice in Witchcraft based on the experience and beliefs of the members. You can practice witchcraft on your own without joining any coven. Even covens are not large gatherings. Sometimes a coven exceeding a membership of 13 is considered too large and is further split into smaller groups or hives. This freedom obviously allows each individual to practice the witchcraft in his own way without subscribing to any rigid dogma or regime.There are, therefore, no hard and fast rules about how to do witchcraft.-Witchcraft website, not by meAny copy of this work will have you arrested.

I think that doing witchcraft is wrong. If you perform it, though, it's fine by me.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.Ã¢â‚¬Â -Einstein

well, I like chocolate milk, not a big drinker but on occasion I do like the spirits, um, I also like rainy days and thunder is awesome as long as I'm not at the airport....um what else, oh, I have lots of thoughts and opinion on things, if you have a specific question I'd be happy to tell you about it.....

http://theyard.netii.net/"You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar but if you pull their wings off they'll eat whatever you give them!"

Spookymufu wrote:well, I like chocolate milk, not a big drinker but on occasion I do like the spirits, um, I also like rainy days and thunder is awesome as long as I'm not at the airport....um what else, oh, I have lots of thoughts and opinion on things, if you have a specific question I'd be happy to tell you about it.....

That would be a conversation with Ihaunt Spooky....

They say that life's a carouselSpinning fast, you've got to ride it wellThe world is full of kings and queensWho blind your eyes and steal your dreamsIts heaven and hell, oh well